OCZ Debuts First "Everest" SSDs: Record Access Time, Up to 1TB of Storage

OCZ Technology Group on Thursday introduced its first solid-state drives (SSDs) powered by Indilinx Everest controller platform. The new Octane drives are not only the first 2.5" SSDs in the industry to provide up to 1TB of storage, but they also combine high-speed data transfer rates with record-breaking access times amid sufficient input/output [IOPS] throughput. The new Octane-S2 is moderate at best.

Available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB versions, OCZ Octane and Octane-S2 solid-state drives are powered by dual-core Indilinx Everest controller with 512MB of DRAM cache. The new drives are optimized for the complete spectrum of file types and sizes. In particular, the Octane's proprietary page mapping algorithms allow for steady mixed-workload performance, mirroring real world conditions across a wide range of applications. The Octane series also includes a number of advanced features unique to Indilinx, including innovative latency reduction technology, enabling both read and write access times as low as 0.06ms and 0.09ms respectively, the lowest of any commercially available SSD. This enhances application responsiveness and enables features such as "fast boot" in consumer applications.

The OCZ Octane drives use Serial ATA-600 interface and provide up to 560MB/s read speeds and up to 400MB/s write speed as well as up to 45 000 random read input/output operations per second (IOPS). The OCZ Octane-S2 is considerably slower with Serial ATA-300 interface, up to 275MB/s read and up to 265MB/s write speeds amid up to 30 000 random read IOPS.

"Until now SSDs have been tailored for specific applications, forcing users into a product which maximizes performance for a narrow band of applications, but is significantly lacking in others. The Octane Series solves this problem by providing the highest level of performance across varied workloads including mixed file sizes and mixed compressible and uncompressible data, all while nearly doubling NAND flash endurance," said Ryan Petersen, chief executive officer of OCZ Technology.

Octane SSDs also come equipped with Indilinx's proprietary NDurance technology, increasing the lifespan of the NAND flash memory, ensuring the consistent and reliable performance as well as minimizing performance degradation even after the drive's storage capacity is highly utilized. In addition, Octane series drives support AES and automatic encryption to secure critical data.

One of the key features of Indilinx Everest controller platform is support for 3bpc (3 bits per cell) inexpensive NAND flash memory. Such support is technically very complex as it requires robust algorithms that ensure high levels of performance and reliability amid lowered amount of write cycles on 3bpc NAND flash. It is unclear whether the new Octane drives are based on 3bpc or 2bpc multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory.

"OCZ has reached an important milestone in the development of its own controller technology. The high sustained performance, even with compressed files, the rapid boot feature and high access speeds using SATA 3.0 protocol puts their controller technology in the major league," said James E. Bagley, Senior Analyst with Storage Strategies Now.

The OCZ Octane SSD Series will be available November 1st in models ranging from 128GB-1TB capacities throughout OCZ's global channel. Pricing is unknown.